RADIO: THE GOON SHOW

Arguably the most influential radio series in British comedy, THE GOON SHOW began on the B.B.C. Home Service May 28 1951 under the title of CRAZY PEOPLE “featuring radio’s own Crazy Gang*, The Goons”.

Starring Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Spike Milligan (with musical support from The Ray Ellington Quartet, Max Geldray and The Stargazers) and Andrew Timothy as the announcer, the scripts were written by Milligan and Larry Stephens (and edited by Jimmy Grafton). The seventeen episodes were made up of unrelated sketches featuring a handful of regular characters.

By the second series, the following January, the B.B.C. allowed the programme to be retitled THE GOON SHOW with the participants as before. The Stargazers left after the first six shows and Michael Bentine departed at series end (though remaining friends with the team, and in fact guest-starring in a fourth season episode).

By the third season, scriptwriting pressures caused Milligan to have a nervous breakdown and he was absent for eleven of the programmes (Dick Emery and Graham Stark took turns at filling in).

Series four saw the collection of sketches evolve into the familiar continuous storyline and Wallace Greenslade take over as the announcer.

None of the first four seasons of THE GOON SHOW was broadcast outside Britain and nearly all the original recordings were destroyed. All that survives are off-air acetate copies of two incomplete editions from series 2, an episode from series 3 and about half of series 4 (many of which were discovered in recent years).

However, from the fifth season (starting September 1954) the B.B.C. Transcription Service began offering the show to broadcasters in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and elsewhere. Eventually 107 editions were made available, plus specially-recorded remakes of 14 fourth season episodes. Most were slightly edited to remove topical references or material thought unsuitable for overseas listeners.

Happily nearly everything survives from this point onwards. These were the episodes of THE GOON SHOW repeated over the past half century and issued on LP, cassette and CD to fans in Britain and around the world.

By the mid-1950s, Eric Sykes began contributing to the scripts (either solo or with Milligan) and his work may be found in season five and at the start of season six. (Sykes, Milligan, Alan Simpson and Ray Galton had formed a scriptwriting co-operative called Associated London Scripts and were regularly supplying material to the B.B.C. and London’s recently-opened commercial television channels).

In 1956 and 1957, Sellers, Secombe and Milligan were signed by Decca Records to record eight studio vocals featuring their popular characters (originally issued as four 78rpm discs). (Prior to this, the trio had done two songs for Parlophone which for reasons relating the composer copyrights were not released at the time).

THE GOON SHOW concluded its run after a short tenth series (on January 28 1960). There were then two seasons of THE TELEGOONS (totalling twenty-six 15-minute remakes, using puppets and dialogue re-recorded by the cast) plus a handful of revival editions. The only newly-scripted edition was The (aptly titled) Last Goon Show Of All, produced for the B.B.C.’s 50th anniversary in 1972. (A Decca 45rpm single containing two new Goon vocals was also recorded in honour of the occasion).

Apart from the original 121 editions of THE GOON SHOW made available by the Transcription Service in the late-1950s, a “best-of” selection titled Pick Of The Goons was issued in the mid-1960s. This comprises 84 programmes , eight of which had not previously been available. Coupled with the final 21 editions of the original package, these are the 105 episodes which have been airing on A.B.C. Radio for the past thirty-five years.

As we enter the twenty-first century, over a hundred GOON SHOWs are available via radio or on commercial compact disc (many originally issued on LP or cassette). There have also been collections of scripts and cartoons inspired by the original plots.

Listed below is an itemisation of the episodes that are commercially available on disc or part of the packages made available by the B.B.C. Transcription Service.

*The original Crazy Gang was formed in the 1930s at the London Palladium when the double acts Flanagan & Allen, Nervo & Knox and Naughton & Gold appeared together in a succession of shows. They also appeared in several movies and (minus Allen) reformed in April 1947 for a number of productions at the Victoria Palace, eventually disbanding in May 1962. Beloved by the public and participating in many Royal Variety performances, they were renowned for their zany antics, good-natured fun and adlibbing. (see Bud Flanagan’s MY CRAZY LIFE, Frederick Muller 1961 and Maureen Owen’s THE CRAZY GANG, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1986)

* The BBC General Overseas Service broadcast on shortwave a special edition (for troops) on … Dec 24 1956

TELEVISION VERSIONS OF GOON SHOWS

The Telegoons (15 min, b/w) (BBC-TV)
October 5 1963 The Ascent Of Mount Everest
October 12 1963 The Lost Colony
October 19 1963 The Fear Of Wages
October 26 1963 Napoleon’s Piano
November 2 1963 The Last Tram
November 16 1963 China Story
November 23 1963 The Canal
December 7 1963 The Hastings Flyer
December 14 1963 The Mystery Of The Marie Celeste – Solved!
December 21 1963 The International Christmas Pudding
December 28 1963 The Choking Horror

March 28 1964 Scradje
April 4 1964 The Booted Gorilla
April 11 1964 The Greatest Mountain In The World
April 18 1964 The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler Of Bexhill-On-Sea
April 25 1964 Tales Of Old Dartmoor
May 2 1964 Lurgi Strikes Britain
May 9 1964 The Personal Narrative Of Captain Seagoon R.N.
May 16 1964 The First Albert Memorial To The Moon
May 23 1964 The Whistling Spy Enigma
May 30 1964 Tales Of Montmatre
June 6 1964 The Africa Ship Canal
June 13 1964 The Affair Of The Lone Banana
June 27 1964 The Nadger Plague
July 18 1964 The Seige Of Fort Knight
August 1 1964 The Terrible Revenge Of Fred Fu Manchu

Fourteen of the scripts were performed again in 1958, specifically for issue by the Transcription Service (all of these remakes survive).

4/1 The Dreaded Piano Clubber remade as V124/2 The Man Who Tried to Destroy London’s Monuments exists4/3 The Ghastly Experiments of Dr. Hans Eidelberger exists4/4 The Building of Britain’s First Atomic Cannon
4/5 The Gibraltar Story
4/6 Through the Sound Barrier in an Airing Cupboard
4/7 The First Albert Memorial to the Moon remade as V144/8 The Missing Bureaucrat
4/9 Operation Bagpipes
4/10 The Flying Saucer Mystery
4/11 The Spanish Armada
4/12 The British Way
4/13 The Giant Bombardon A (2 min extract) remade as V4
4/14 Ten Thousand Fathoms Down in a Wardrobe
4/15 The Missing Prime Minister exists remade as V34/16 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Crun
4/17 The Mummified Priest remade as V14/18 The History of Communications exists4/19 The Kippered Herring Gang exists remade as V5
4/20 The Toothpaste Expedition exists4/21 The Case of the Vanishing Room exists remade as V6
4/22 The Great Ink Drought of 1902 remade as V7
4/23 The Greatest Mountain in the World BCD8 A exists remade as V2
4/24 The Collapse of British Railway Sandwich System BCD23exists remade as V84/25 The Silent Bugler exists remade as V104/26 Western Story exists4/27 The Saga of the Internal Mountain remade as V94/28 The Invisible Acrobat
4/29 The Great Bank of England Robbery exists remade as V114/30 The Siege of Fort Knight remade as V13

VINTAGE GOONS – Transcription Service remake package, recorded during series 8.

Seven of these versions were included in the 1960s Pick of the Goons reissue package. (noted PG)

V/1 The Mummified Priest BCD12
V/2 The Greatest Mountain in the World PG original also exists
V/3 The Missing Ten Downing Street ECD3 original also exists
V/4 The Giant Bombardon BCD18 PG original also exists
V/5 The Kippered Herring Gang original also exists
V/6 The Vanishing Room BCD13 PGoriginal also exists
V/7 The Ink Shortage
V/8 The Mustard and Cress Shortage original also exists
V/9 The Internal Mountain BCD25 PG
V/10 The Silent Bugler BCD17PG original also exists
V/11 The Great Bank of England Robbery BCD26PG original also exists
V/12 The Dreaded Piano Clubber BCD24
V/13 The Siege of Fort Night BCD26V/14 The First Albert Memorial to the Moon PG

Discography

all episodes originally released on LP (by Parlophone, EMI and BBC Records) have now been reissued on the following compact discs …

B.B.C. CDS

v1: Moriarty, Where Are You? (ZBBC 1864)
The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler
The Histories Of Pliny The Elder
The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI
The Evils Of Bushey Spon

v20: The Fear Of Wages (ISBN 0563 536292)
The Fear Of Wages
The Nadger Plague
The Great British Revolution
The Sahara Desert Statue

v21: The Missing Battleship(ISBN 0563 494794)
The Junk Affair
The Burning Embassy
The Missing Battleship
Ten Snowballs That Shook The World

v22: The Booted Gorilla (ISBN 0563 524669)
The Booted Gorilla
The Sale Of Manhattan
The Choking Horror
The Ink Shortage

v23: The Collapse Of The British Rail Sandwich System(ISBN 0563 527978)
The Collapse Of The British Rail Sandwich System
The Lost Gold Mine Of Charlotte
The Canal
The House Of Teeth

v24: The Case of the Missing Heir(ISBN 18460 71941)The Case of the Missing Heir
The Secret Escritoire
The Dreaded Piano Clubber
The Pam’s Paper Insurance Policy

v25: The Saga of the Internal Mountain(ISBN 9781 4056 77721)The Fireball of Milton Street
The End, or Confessions of a Secret Senna-Pod Drinker
The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu
The Saga of the Internal Mountain

v26: Bank Statement no. 349 (ISBN 9781 408 410455)The Lost Year
The Great Bank of England Robbery
The Siege of Fort Night
The Chinese Legs

78rpm STUDIO VOCALS RECORDED BY THE GOONS

Parlophone1955 Unchained Melody
1955 Dance With Me, Henry
(both vocals eventually issued on the EMI 4CD set A CELEBRATION OF SELLERS)

DeccaMay 1956 The Bluebottle Blues
May 1956 I’m Walking Backwards For Christmas
August 1956 Bloodnok’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Call
August 1956 The Ying Tong Song
1957 Eeh! Ah! Oh! Ooh!
1957 I Love You
1957 Whistle Your Cares Away
1957 A Russian Love Song
1972 The Raspberry Song
1972 Rhymes
(all ten Decca vocals reissued on the LP/CD THE WORLD OF THE GOONS)

additional reissue

The Best of the GoonsOne Day Music 2CD DAY2CD 115 (2011)Tales of Old Dartmoor
Dishonoured
I’m Walking Backwards for Christmas
Bluebottle Blues
The Ying Tong Song
Bloodnok’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Call
Tales of Men’s Shirts
The Scarlet Capsule
I Love You
Eeh! Ah! Oh! Ooh!
A Russian Love Song
Whistle Your Cares Away

Books

The Goon Show Scriptss1
by Spike Milligan (Woburn Press, 1972)

More Goon Show Scriptss2
by Spike Milligan (Woburn Press, 1973)

The Book Of The Goonss3
by Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers (Robson Books, 1974)

The Goon Show Scripts (Woburn Press, 1972)
The Dreaded Piano Clubber
The Phantom Head Shaver
The Affair Of The Lone Banana
The Canal
Napoleon’s Piano
Foiled By President Fred
The Mighty Wurlitzer
The Hastings Flyer
The House Of Teeth

More Goon Show Scripts(Woburn Press, 1973)
Battle Of Spion Kop
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
Who Is Pink Oboe?
Call Of The West
The Scarlet Capsule
The Tay Bridge Disaster
The Gold Plate Robbery
The £50 Cure

The Book Of The Goons(Robson Books, 1974)
The Terrible Revenge Of Fred Fu Manchu
The Great String Robberies
The Spon Plague
Tales Of Men’s Shirts
Robin’s Post

OTHER RADIO SERIES BY THE GOONS

PETER SELLERSThe Starlight HourHome Service Monday 8-00pm November 22 to December 20 1948Third DivisionThird Programme Wednesday 8-00pm January 26 to March 2 1949Ray’s A LaughHome Service Monday 7-30pm April 4 to May 30 1949 and Tuesday 8-00pm June 7 1949 to June 27 1950
Home Service Thursday 8-30pm September 21 1950 to July 26 1951
Home Service Thursday 8-30pm November 1 1951 to July 17 1952 (not Feb 7, 14)
Home Service Thursday 8-30pm December 25 1952 to June 25 1953
Home Service Thursday 8-30pm September 25 1953 to April 29 1954Variety BandboxLight Programme Sunday 7-30pm (fortnightly) April 16 to July 23 1950Paradise Street
Light Programme Tuesday 9-30pm June 2 to July 13 1954Happy HolidayLight Programme Thursday 8-00pm July 15 to October 21 1954Calling Miss CourtneidgeHome Service Wednesday 7-00pm March 16 to May 4 1955Finkel’s CafeLight Programme Wednesday 8-30pm July 4 to August 29 1956Curiouser And CuriouserHome Service Tuesday 8-30pm August 14 to September 18 1956

HARRY SECOMBEListen My ChildrenHome Service Tuesday 8-30pm June 1 to July 20 1948Third DivisionThird Programme Wednesday 8-00pm January 26 to March 2 1949Welsh RarebitLight Programme Thursday 9-00pm January 26 to June 29 1950
Light Programme Thursday 9-00pm September 28 1950 to February 8 1951Educating ArchieLight Programme Thursday 7-30pm September 18 1952 to February 12 1953 and Thursday May 21 to June 25 1953
Light Programme Thursday October 15 1953 to April 1 1954

SPIKE MILLIGANHip-Hip-Hoo-RoyLight Programme Wednesday 7-30pm October 5 to December 28 1949BumblethorpeHome Service Monday 7-45pm November 12 to December 31 1951Paradise StreetLight Programme Tuesday 9-30pm April 20 to May 26 1954The Idiot WeeklyABC RADIO Tuesday 7-15pm June 3 to August 18 1958
ABC RADIO Tuesday 7-30pm June 30 to September 22 1959
ABC RADIO Tuesday 7-30pm August 29 to November 20 1962The Omar Khayham ShowHome Service Friday 9-30pm December 27 1963 to January 24 1964 and Tuesday 9-00pm May 5 1964Milligna – Or Your Favourite SpikeRadio 4 Tuesday 6-15pm December 12 1972 to January 23 1973The Milligan PapersRadio 4 Wednesday 6-30pm January 28 to March 4 1987

MICHAEL BENTINEThird DivisionThird Programme Wednesday 8-00pm January 26 to March 2 1949Come To Char-leeLight Programme Thursday 7-30pm February 26 to May 14 1953Three’s A CrowdMELBOURNE RADIO 3DB September 9 1956 to March 3 1957Round The BendLight Programme Sunday 6-30pm October 13 1957 to January 5 1958
Home Service Friday 7-00pm December 26 1958 to March 20 1959
Home Service Friday 9-45pm May 20 to August 12 1960The Best Of BentineRadio 2 Sunday 12-30pm January 22 to February 26 1984
Radio 2 Sunday 12-30pm April 15 to May 27 1984The Reluctant JesterRadio 2 Tuesday 7-00pm September 7 to October 12 1993The Reluctant Jester Strikes BackRadio 2 Tuesday 8-30pm November 1 to December 6 1994

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